Downgrade/revert firmware?

[jmbsmt63]

Does anybody have any info about the possibility of re-flashing the Anafi to an older firmware?
I realize that the "official" answer will be NO. Last week's firmware update messed my Anafi up and I suspect it was a bad flash...I would love to be able to go back and see what happens.
I understand (and have tried) going back with the app by retrieving/installing an APK of an older software version but that won't go to the older firmware.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I would so no, there is no way to go back. Of all my UAV's none are able to do this. Because the Anafi updates the firmware through the App and you do not actually have a .bin file to apply to the Anafi I guess we will never know for sure but as it stands right now the answer is no you are out of luck till the next update that will hopefully fix your problem.

What is the problem that you are having?

 

[jmbsmt63]

I would so no, there is no way to go back. Of all my UAV's none are able to do this. Because the Anafi updates the firmware through the App and you do not actually have a .bin file to apply to the Anafi I guess we will never know for sure but as it stands right now the answer is no you are out of luck till the next update that will hopefully fix your problem.

What is the problem that you are having?

I kind of suspected that that was the case ( not able to revert) but I was curious if anybody ever did...

My problem since last weeks update is a loss of range/signal.... it has been cut in half or more...In the same location and conditions. I have tried all the resets/clearing/re-install/calibrations... It is almost like I was thrust into EU power specs as opposed to US/FCC power specs...But...I do have the usual channels .... I am waiting for some ideas from Parrot but I suspect this was a bad flash...I would love to be able to revert (or at least re-flash) and at least eliminate that possibility

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I agree the reflashing would be a bonus just like you can do with the EVO using the manual firmware upgrade. I put a post in the developers forum to see if anyone on there might know more. Their is one tech from parrot that monitors that forum but seems to stay in the back ground unless parrot makes a announcement of some kind. There is also a slack group around for Parrot but I am not involved with them as I do not have anything to offer them. Thats over my head and pay grade LOL

 

[jmbsmt63]

I agree the reflashing would be a bonus just like you can do with the EVO using the manual firmware upgrade. I put a post in the developers forum to see if anyone on there might know more. Their is one tech from parrot that monitors that forum but seems to stay in the back ground unless parrot makes a announcement of some kind. There is also a slack group around for Parrot but I am not involved with them as I do not have anything to offer them. Thats over my head and pay grade LOL

Thank You...I appreciate the effort.
I understand perfectly well why they wouldn't want to make that a readily available thing ( manual firmware change) but it sure would make it easier...

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Wow I got a answer faster then I thought I would and its not what you wanted to hear i'm guessing

"Hi,
We do not support firmware downgrades on Anafi. This is not tested and could lead to unexpected issues.
Regarding the “suspected failed” firmware upgrade, this should not happen as the file are checked multiple times for integrity before and during an update. Your Anafi should either refuse/abort the update (and thus stay with the previous version number displayed in FreeFlight) or properly apply it (and display the new version number in FreeFlight)
Regards,
Nicolas."

 

[jmbsmt63]

Wow I got a answer faster then I thought I would and its not what you wanted to hear i'm guessing

"Hi,
We do not support firmware downgrades on Anafi. This is not tested and could lead to unexpected issues.
Regarding the “suspected failed” firmware upgrade, this should not happen as the file are checked multiple times for integrity before and during an update. Your Anafi should either refuse/abort the update (and thus stay with the previous version number displayed in FreeFlight) or properly apply it (and display the new version number in FreeFlight)
Regards,
Nicolas."

Thanks Again,
Yup, I figured that was a no-go. As far as the statement that it either updates properly or not at all is something that is "designed" to function that way but I csn speak from experience with other equipment that firmware updates CAN fail....I am going to try the Anafi to a more isolated (less/no interference) and test it again...maybe something changed at my usual neighborhood testing spot...I know that a neighboorhood is not a good place to test, especially for interference/range but it is my baseline for testing both drones.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Try using a WiFi analyzer to see if there is a strong WiFi signal that might have just popped up.

 

[jmbsmt63]

Try using a WiFi analyzer to see if there is a strong WiFi signal that might have just popped up.

OK...Update on the terrible range experienced since the latest firmware update. After trying everything I could I had the time to skip out of work for a bit this afternoon and got to a park in the area that is another test area for me...Bottom line...It was great away from the neighborhood...I can only assume that there is some sort of improvement/booster or some new tower in my neighborhood that just wrecks the Anafi's transmissions that became active between the 17th (previous flight before the firmware) and the 19th ( first flight after the firmware). Was something changed in the firmware that makes it more susceptible or did they activate some new tower near me? Whatever it is, it cut the range to less than half...The next time I walk the dog I will have a WIFI monitor active on my phone to see if any "spikes" are apparent.

 

[MrDosa]

Well. Out of curiosity, I tried to manually downgrade mine from v1.5.6 to v1.5.4, or just reinstall v1.5.6, without luck.

Here's how I found a way to possible update the firmware. This is for reading only, and you should not try it on your drone.

Spoiler: Do not try on your Anafi!

By unpacking the app's obb file, you can get hold of the second current (v1.5.4) and the probably the original (v0.9.9) firmware update file in a *.tar.gz or *.tgz format.
The newest v1.5.6 firmware is found in a different directory on your phone:
root/data/user/0/com.parrot.freeflight6/files/firmwares/anafi_4k/1.5.6/anafi_update.tar.gz

Then I extracted the anafi_update.tar archive which was found inside of each update file discovered above. I kept them next to each other, renamed to properly identify which is which.
I'm using a PC without a WiFi antenna, so I was using a phone for this process, but if your PC or Laptop has a WiFi antenna, you can use it instead of your phone.
I copied the extracted files to my phone.

I turned on my Anafi, waited for it to boot, and then connected toit's WiFi network via my phone which should start with ANAFI-G******. The password should be in the hardshell case.
Once connected, opened my browser and typed: 192.168.42.1
It gave me a some sort of web surface for accessing the Anafi and various information about it.
On the top there are tabs saying Info, Media, Report, PUD, FDR, Flightplan, Update and SDK.
I chose Update to update the firmware manually.
Clicked on Select File... and then selected every file what I extracted. The *.tar.gz containing the anafi_update.tar, or the anafi_update.tar alone. Even selected the update.bin file found inside the anafi_update.tar archive without luck.
The Anafi sent back a "Bad update file" error every time.

I'm not sure if this is going to be any help for any of you, but at least we know that there's a feature like this, and maybe, in the future, we can do something with this.